Cycling UK Forum

I knew a Simon Davey very many years ago in Bristol, who I think may have got into bike building. I know that he moved to Winchester, and AFAIK still lives there. However, whether it is the same person, I have no idea.

September is the transition from summer into autumn, and the current weather is fairly typical of that period. South-westerly winds become much more dominant in the autumn, and heavy rainfall is common across the north-western half of the British Isles, and especially in the Scottish highlands, whic...

Quite a few YHA hostels have their bike sheds outside of the property, so in theory accessible to anyone (though they usually aren't obvious - some will look like storage sheds or even garden sheds). Some are quite some distance from the hostel itself, and if tampered with at night, I doubt that any...

I've never understood why people do leave their locks on a stand. Does it mean they never do any other journey apart from to that one location? Surely most cyclists do occasionally go elsewhere? Or do they have a collection of locks? I must admit if I see a stand with a lot of locks attached to it, ...

I've just remembered (prompted by Gaz's photo and tale) that a couple of weeks ago I was riding down the Sharpness towpath and there were a family of swans there, one standing between path and water, one curled up with its head under its wing actually on the path and others swimming on the canal. A...

Good question. Return journeys as the branch lines are dead ends, so you'd have to come back. https://www.visitcornwall.com/about-cornwall/branch-line-specials Start at Gunnislake as the first train out is 06:00 to Plymouth. Last one back arrives after 22:00. That's Tamar Valley Line. If you wanted...

Holsworthy also carried on over to Bude and I think there was a time pre-war when large trains regularly travelled all the way there from London - maybe this was the Atlantic Coast Express. Enjoy yourself. When I stayed in Bude some time ago I read a book about this line, which had a wonderful pict...

Has anyone ridden the coast of UK?? Was thinking I could do the local coasts (yorkshire) as day trips say as far a Edinburgh or Inverness then the NC500 ditto day trips to bangor, Bangor to Fishguard - Bristol. Bristol - Barnstaple - lands end Lands end - Plymouth - Exmouth. Exmouth - Ringwood. (Pa...

Er, I hate to break it to you all, but this isn't in the Forest of Dean. :D If you read the article carefully you will see it says views across the river Severn to the Forest of Dean. It's actually on the edge of Bristol, close to the M5 and major trading estates and shopping malls. The bears have b...

Oldjohnw wrote:I always use paper maps and carry an ancient Nokia in my pocket. Never been lost.

Me too.

My paper maps are mostly about 40 years old, so can make for some interesting navigating at times...

Catch a train to Gravesend and cycle east along the NCN route following the Thames estuary. This is traffic free for a while, but then takes you onto some wonderfully quiet lanes, where you will meet very few cars, and into the surprisingly lovely countryside of the Hoo peninsula.

Sorry to hear of your disturbing experience. As a Brompton owner,I would be extremely loath to park it in a public rack for any length of time. I thought that one of its many advantages was that it could be folded up & taken with you into premises/work etc. When entering shops with folded Bromp...

That's a worrying experience. "London" can describe an enormous area. Was this in central London? It was in Kensington. I know that most people ignore even the most obvious theft taking place, but this was in such a visible situation that I'm sure somebody must have seen it and hopefully ...

Hi Jon, where are the marks on your lock and what can you infer from that? Are the marks on the inside of each leg from an expansion attack using a hydraulic jack? Yes, which is why I was thinking the same. However, I have been told that the current crop of breaking of U-locks has been by cutting t...

A query for those who cycle in London regularly. I understand there have been many instances recently of gangs going round breaking open U-locks that used to be thought of as unbreakable. I would be interested in knowing more about this - how they do this, and how prevalent it is at present. I visit...